Air quality earns a passing grade

srensberry@edwpub.net

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, December 17, 2009

The Air Quality Index for the western portion of Madison County and much of the Metro East was rated as good 58.2 percent of the time, moderate 40.2 percent of the time and unhealthy for sensitive groups 1.6 percent of the time during the previous year, according to a just-released report from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The report covers data collected in 2008 and rates a large portion of the county as part of the Illinois portion of the larger St. Louis region, covering mainly those areas of Madison and St. Clair counties which lie within 15 miles east of the Mississippi River.

Nevertheless, the report does show the area as having the lowest percentage of “good” days among all 14 sectors cited in the report and the highest percentage of days in which air quality was considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Estimated emissions data also shows Madison County with the highest level of carbon monoxide emissions of any of the 102 counties in the state, at 18,169.3 tons — and among the highest on four other types of emissions.

According to the report, emissions in the county for 2008 in addition to carbon monoxide included 12,005 tons of nitrogen oxides, 2,698 tons of particulate matter, 26,380 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 3,082 tons of volatile organic material.

Exceeding Madison County in nitrogen oxides were the counties of Will, Tazwell and Christian. Exceeding it in particulate matter were the counties of Will and Cook. Exceeding it in sulfur dioxide were the counties of Will, Massac and Tazewell. Cook, Will and Macon counties were the only ones with higher emissions of volatile organic material.

Illinois currently monitors approximately 6,500 active sources of emissions around the state.

Air pollution monitoring stations in the Metro East are located in Granite City, Wood River, Alton, South Roxana and Maryville (ozone). Madison County is the seventh most populated county in the state with approximately 265,300 residents. St. Clair County is No. 8 with approximately 260,900.

Madison County Chairman Alan Dunstan said he had not yet viewed the report but expressed confidence that the county was moving in a positive direction in terms of air quality.

Earlier this year Dunstan took issue with an EPA study using 2002 data which suggested the county had ranked among the most at-risk in the country for contracting cancer.

“First, the study was conducted more than seven years ago and doesn’t reflect the current quality of the air in the county,” Dunstan said in a public statement released at the time. “Since 2002, industrial plants in the county have spent millions of dollars and made substantial changes to reduce the pollutants released in air. Secondly, after speaking with EPA officials in Washington, D.C., and quickly reviewing the data, the only area in Madison County that had higher concentrations of air pollutants, according to the study, was concentrated in a very small portion of the county.”

That area, he said, was near the Coke Plant next to the former Granite City Steelworks, now U.S. Steel Corporation.

Overall, the report says the state continues to be below the national standards and notes that the air quality throughout the state was either good or moderate 96 percent of the time, including in Madison County. State levels in 2007 were 93 percent and in 2006 it was 97 percent. The full report and other current air quality data are available at www.epa.state.il.us/air/air-quality-menu.html.

“We continue to move forward on our commitment to improve air quality throughout the state,” Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott said in the report. “The data we collect provide valuable information for both affected citizens and for us as we develop, implement and enforce regulations to control air pollution and make the air in Illinois easier to breathe.”

There were no Ozone Advisories issued during the year and only one Air Pollution Action Day cited. Action days are called when the index edges closer to the “unhealthy” range.

The Air Quality Index represents a measure of several types of pollutants: Sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide levels.

“There were 14 days air quality in some parts of Illinois was considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups,’ this compares to 24 ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ days in 2007. The improved numbers come even though a more stringent federal standard for measuring acceptable air quality was used for the 2008 report,” the report says.

Applied to 2007, the new federal standards would have pushed the numbers of ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ days to 48, it says.

In terms of the index, the Metro East area was closest in rating to the Chicago sector, which had 59.7 percent days rated good and 40.2 percent moderate.

Chicago’s North and West Suburbs sector was next with 61.2 percent good and 37.7 percent moderate.

At 1.6 percent, the Metro East sector’s percentage of ‘unhealthy for sensitive group’ days was closest in levels to the Chicago North and West Suburbs sector at 1.1 percent. Others showed levels of 0.5 percent or less.

The EPA advises persons with respiratory diseases such as asthma to limit prolonged outdoor activities on days when poor air quality is suspected.